An unexpected pipe

First, I want to say that I don't have any photos to post of this pipe yet because I can take decent pipe pictures only outdoors during the daylight, and I didn't have a chance to do so today since we got home after dark.

Today we had our early Christmas as is our tradition.  Usually we have this celebration at my dad's house, but he is not up to it this time since he had some injuries to his hands (a dog attack) recently, so we went to an aunt's house instead.

A different aunt--not the one whose house we were at--gave me a gift bag with two books in it which look quite interesting and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy reading them.  I poked around in the sack to make sure there wasn't anything else, like a card or something, then set it aside to keep enjoying the festivities--there was an enormous amount of food.  So I heard this aunt tell my wife that she wanted to tell me something about my gift after I had opened it, so I said I had already opened it.  She said, "I heard you collected pipes, so I thought you might like that one.  It was Edwin's pipe."  Edwin was her husband--my uncle (my dad's brother)--who passed away last year.  "Pipe?" I said.  So I looked in the bag again and found an old Kaywoodie Signet.  Not a higher-end Kaywoodie to be sure, but still a Kaywoodie.  I knew that my uncle had enjoyed an occasional cigar, but I hadn't known that he had ever smoked a pipe.

The pipe is worn and well-used, the cloverleaf having fallen out and leaving only the clover-shaped hole in the stem.  The oddest thing about it is that although it is a bent pipe, the stem is too straight, as if it were made for a straight pipe.  So I don't know if it's the original stem or not, and I'll have to try and put a bend in it before I ever try smoking it.

So that was a very nice gift, and I'm glad to have it.  He was my favorite uncle, and I truly enjoyed his slightly twisted and self-deprecating sense of humor.  He often told me stories which ended in some dumb mistake he had made, laughing hugely at himself the whole time.

Which reminds me, a few years ago one of my Christmas gifts was an odd-looking pipe stand from my dad.  I'll have to post some photos of it, too.

One that Kaywoodie never thought of: the noseblaster

I'm sure most readers of this blog are already familiar with the term "nosewarmer." For those who aren't, "nosewarmer" is a term used for a very short pipe with a bent stem that hangs directly, or almost directly, under the nose. So what do you call a pipe that is aimed directly at the nose? I propose the term, "noseblaster."

This pipe turned up in a recent eBay auction. The seller claims this is a Kaywoodie Chesterfield. From the only photo included (shown below), we can safely assume that the bowl is indeed from a Chesterfield. I have mentioned this pipe before. It was Kaywoodie's knock-off of the Peterson System pipe, with a moisture-catching reservoir below the air passage in the shank. The Chesterfield was also equipped with a bent stem and a P-lip bit.

I do find this stem interesting, because it bears the same anonymous white logo as an unknown lovat in my collection.

The things people will try to sell. Good grief.

UPDATE: Four different bidders went for it. It sold for $21.50. The things people will buy.

Kaywoodie Lady Briar

Another pipe of interest, by which I mean, a pipe which interests me because it teaches me about yet another kind of pipe that was once made, and helps me fill in a little bit more of Kaywoodie history, but which I have no desire to actually own myself. As usual, photos grabbed from a recent eBay auction. Click on them for larger versions.

The Kaywoodie Lady Briar. A slim pipe with an elegant sweep and rhinestones adorning the bowl. Yes, you read that right. Rhinestones. Because lady pipe smokers won't touch a pipe that doesn't sparkle, I guess.


I'm sure there's a lesson about sexism in here somewhere, but I don't particularly care to look for it. This pipe did have some otherwise collectible value, because for a 40 to 50-year-old pipe, it had never been smoked. It sold for $66.

I am always interested in documentation that comes with old pipes, too (sometimes the documentation is more interesting than the pipe itself), and this one was still in the original packaging with smoking instructions included. These specific instructions on breaking in a new pipe are, to me, quite amusing. Exactly six half-bowls must be smoked first. Clean the stem after every ten bowls.

But the rhinestones. Oh, the rhinestones!

Kaywoodie: Never let a hunk of wood go to waste

This pipe turned up on a recent eBay auction, and although I was not inclined to bid on it, I did grab the photo for curiosity's sake. Not really a good photo, but still.

The Kaywoodie company was very good at coming up with any excuse they needed never to waste a piece of briar. You got a leftover piece that might make a pipe except it's too narrow? Don't throw it away! Let's make a pipe anyway and come up with a good reason for it later.

This is the EZ Set Vest Pocket pipe in shape #66. It looks sort of flattened because it was, so it would fit in your pocket more comfortably (yes! really! we meant to do that!).

I find a study of Kaywoodie pipes fascinating partly because of all the reasons they came up with never to waste a piece of briar.

Oh, by the way, this is the white briar finish, "the feel of briar with the look of meerschaum," ostensibly for those who wanted the classic look of meerschaum but the smoking qualities of briar, as if something was wrong with the smoking qualities of meer.  I think the real reason is that they had some wood that was going to look horrendous without a think coat of paint, and this was the best they could come up with.

You might think from this post that I have some sort of grudge against Kaywoodie, but that is not the case at all. I have several Kaywoodie pipes and smoke them often. I just don't have any reason not to call 'em like I see 'em.

S.M. Frank-era Kaywoodie Red Root straight rusticated apple

This is a pipe that I had previously categorized as for sale, but I have decided to add it to my collection.

This is a Kaywoodie Red Root. The Red Root is not a part of the original Kaywoodie line. It is a style of pipe that was introduced by S.M. Frank after that company purchased Kaywoodie. All the Red Roots I have seen have a similar reddish-brown rusticated finish and the fancy screw-in bit. Fortunately, the previous owner saw no need to mutilate this one and it still has its three-hole stinger intact.

When I decided to collect Kaywoodies, I had at first thought I would focus only on the "originals." But what the hey, I'll keep some representatives of the latter-day pipes in the collection, too.

I took this shot from the top to show what's left of the Frank-era cloverleaf logo. These pipes have only a white outline of the cloverleaf and it wears off very easily, as you can see.

There are some light tooth scuffs on the bit, but otherwise this is still a good old pipe.

Kaywoodie Campus Dublin

click to enlarge

The Campus was a Kaywoodie line of smaller-and-lighter-than-usual pipes, with a purpose. A purpose that, in my opinion, doubles as a gimmick.

The Campus pipes were supposedly intended to be used by college students and professors to get a quick smoke during breaks between classes. Small enough to fit handily in a pocket, and small bowl volume to produce a shorter smoke. This one is equipped with the usual screw stem and a 3-hole stinger.

In reality (in my opinion, of course) pipes made like this are usually too small. They don't have a lot of mass in the stummel, and have thin bowl walls, therefore they smoke hot. But, I should admit that I haven't actually smoked this one yet, so I may yet be proved wrong.

Someone had been smoking this one, but lightly. It had minimal cake and only light tooth scuffs on the bit. A small build-up of unburned leaves in the bottom suggests that the previous owner rarely finished the bowl. I would hazard a guess because it was uncomfortably warm by the time he got that far. It had barely any tar on the rim and the inside of the shank produced hardly any black stuff at all. I did give it a light reaming, since the upper part of the bowl had a disproportionately thicker cake than the bottom--more evidence that the previous owner had trouble finishing the bowl.

This pipe is so light, you might forget you have it in your mouth. At about 13cm in length, it weighs only 16 grams (about 1/2 ounce).

I'll be giving this one a trial run this week sometime, just so I can offer an honest opinion on how it smokes, but I can't see making this one part of my regular rotation.

UPDATE: Okay, I gave it a whirl. It did provide a very short smoke (20 minutes or so), and the bowl got so hot I had to hold it by the shank. Maybe it would perform better for someone who is not such an aggressive puffer as I. This one will go on the shelf as part of my Kaywoodie collection, but I doubt I'll be reaching for it very often.

No rubber, no plastic: The Kaywoodie Allbriar

This pipe recently came up for auction on eBay, and although I couldn't get in on the bidding, I grabbed the pictures for my own benefit. I have seen illustrations of these pipes before, but not actual photographs.


As the name suggests, the Allbriar is made from all briar, including the bit. They were made in different shapes, and some with meerschaum inserts. According to The Collector's Guide to Kaywoodie Pipes by Robert Stokes, they were listed in the 1955 catalog, but by the mid 1960s were no longer listed.

The seller of this pipe specified that the stinger had been removed, something which usually decreases desirability of a Kaywoodie pipe. However, the relative rarity of this all briar pipe still generated a lot of interest, and it sold for over $50.

Kaywoodie #13B Drinkless author

Another part of my small Kaywoodie collection, and the last pipe I ever took a picture of with my old scanner. From now on, I'll have to try and take decent photos of everything.

This one is at the lowest rung of the Kaywoodie ladder, the Drinkless. Another find from an eBay lot that I didn't smoke much at first because I wasn't used to the unusually wide bowl mouth, this has become one of my favorites and is part of my regular rotation. The stummel and stem line up perfectly and it still has its 3-hole stinger intact. I also think the author shape is just one of the sweetest pipe shapes ever created.

Since acquiring this pipe, I have been on the lookout for higher grades of Kaywoodies in the author shape, but so far, no luck.

And that just about finishes out my current collection. I'll be going through my boxes and picking out more pipes to work on, and I'll be getting some stems fitted to some stummels pretty soon. I'll also be watching eBay for promising items, ordering some new tobaccos and commenting on them. So stay tuned, and thank you to everyone who has been reading the blog.

How does the Kaywoodie drinkless system work

I got a search hit on my other blog for the phrase, "how does kaywoodie drinkless system work." I think a better question would be, "Does a Kaywoodie drinkless system work?"

click to enlarge

I'll re-visit the Kaywoodie lovat that I posted about several days ago. Okay, although it isn't visible in this photo, there is a small hole in the metal stinger just above the threads, which the air is drawn through. The ball on the end of the stinger fits into the air passage through the shank. When air is drawn, it travels around and through the holes on the ball. A lot of moisture collects on the ball from the air moving through and around it. Some moisture also collects on the arm of the stinger.

So does it work? I guess it depends on your definition of "work." The stinger certainly does trap some moisture. Anyone who has ever cleaned a Kaywoodie can tell you that. But does it somehow magically (or technologically) deliver a superior cool, dry smoke? My opinion is no. The cool, dry smoke that everyone is looking for still relies on several variable factors meshing together just right, and a metal gadget up the shank is not going automatically render them all irrelevant.

And what are these factors? Since many of the things I write here are geared toward new pipe smokers and non-pipe smokers, I'll offer my opinion on them, in no particular order.

The pipe: the quality of the briar, the shape of the pipe, the size of the pipe, the thickness of the bowl walls, the design of the air passage. All of these factors matter.

The tobacco: is it fresh and moist (maybe too moist), or older and a little dry? Is there a particular leaf in it that for some reason makes you salivate more or makes your mouth drier? Is it heavily treated with propylene glycol?

And here's one for you to wrap your head around: some pipes don't like some tobaccos. In some cases, no matter how hard you try to get your favorite pipe to smoke your favorite blend, there's always just something not right with the smoke. Sometimes you have to experiment with a pipe to find it's preferred blend. (Feel free to tell me I'm nuts on this, but it's an opinion I've formed from my own experiences).

The weather: Yes, the weather. Are you smoking outdoors? Is it windy? Is it humid or not? Is it cold or hot? Are you smoking indoors with conditioned central air?

And finally: you. Have you just eaten, or are you feeling a little hungry? Have you had enough water to drink? What are you drinking with your pipe? Are you puffing a little faster than usual due to a stressful day?

Like I said, several factors, some of them beyond your control. But the perfect smoke is only the goal to toil after, and the toil itself is still quite pleasant, indeed.

Kaywoodie #90 Standard lovat

click to enlarge

Back when I was more concerned with turning a profit than with simply collecting every Kaywoodie shape I could find, I acquired a beautiful Prime Grain Kaywoodie in the same lovat shape as above. If I recall correctly, I sold it for $20, which pretty much paid for the whole lot that it came in. As time went by, I came to regret that sale, and determined that I would try to find a replacement for it. Eventually this one came up on eBay.

Oh, it was in sad shape, and I shelled out $10 for it. When I first received it I thought I had snookered myself, but with diligent cleaning, reaming, and a couple of salt treatments, it began to sparkle like the fine old pipe it is.

As hard as it is to accurately date Kaywoodie pipes, this one has proved to be especially hard for me. It is generally considered that the more holes the stinger has, the older it is, and 4-hole stingers are generally more desirable to Kaywoodie collectors than 2- or 3-hole. Going by the stinger, I would estimate this pipe to have come from the 1940s, but I'm not sure they had yet begun using the term "Standard" grain until the 1960s. So I'm just not sure.

click to enlarge

This pipe has a 4-hole stinger. You can see only two of the holes in this photo, but if I were to display a reverse shot, you would see the other two. If you enlarge it, you may also be able to discern the word "DRINKLESS" stamped on the stinger itself. This is because Kaywoodie used the term "Drinkless" as a generic term to refer to their trademark stinger design in the earlier years. Later, "Drinkless" became an actual grade (the lowest) of Kaywoodie pipes. This is the only Kaywoodie I have personally seen that has "DRINKLESS" stamped on the stinger itself.

Nomenclature on this pipe is "KAYWOODIE" over "Standard" (in script) on the left shank, with the number "90" on the right shank. 90 means Kaywoodie designated this shape as a medium Canadian. Kaywoodie regarded all shapes of the Canadian family as "Canadian" regardless of the shank and bit shapes.

Someday, if I manage to find another Prime Grain in this shape, I might consider selling this one. But until then, this one remains part of my collection and is part of my semi-regular rotation.

S.M. Frank-era Kaywoodie straight billiard

Here is a scannergraph (a photo that I took with my old scanner) from several years ago, right after I had done some major restoration on this pipe. It is one of the more modern Kaywoodies that are made by the S.M. Frank company. This pipe, along with the Dublin in the previous post, was one of the pair of pipes that were my first Kaywoodies ever purchased.

There's nothing special about this pipe. A plain straight billiard with a heavy finish, it is reliable and has stood up well to repeated smokes with little or no rest between. But it will serve as an example of something that, when it comes to pipes, fills me with rage.

In this photo I took this morning (overcast and dark, so it's not the best but it will do), the billiard in question is at top and the apple that I posted on a few days ago is beneath. The stem of the apple shows a typical Kaywoodie "stinger," or screw fitment. Stingers are not all identical, but they should all look something like the one pictured. As you can see, the billiard has been mutilated.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to take a hacksaw to the stinger of a Kaywoodie pipe. If there is a moisture problem, the aluminum fitment makes it perfectly safe to unscrew the stem while the bowl is still warm so you can run a pipe cleaner into the shank or wipe off the stinger itself. If you want to cut it off because it makes cleaning the stem more difficult, well then, that's a personal problem you need to deal with. You still have no business castrating a Kaywoodie this way.

This pipe will also serve to show an example of the difference between Kaywoodie logos. The old logo is a white material (I don't know what it is) set into a cloverleaf-shaped indentation in the stem (or on older Kaywoodies, the shank). The modern S.M. Frank Kaywoodies simply have a cloverleaf outline on the stem which is originally marked in white. It is cheaply done and the color wears off easily, as you can see.

In spite of all its problems, this has always been a very reliable pipe for me. It can bang around in my truck all day with no problem, and handles strong Perique blends with aplomb. Since it is not an original American Kaywoodie and also since the stinger has been cut off, I would never try to sell it. It is just an everyday pipe and remains part of my collection for the examples it provides--and it smokes well, I must admit.

Kaywoodie Yacht export pipe (bent Dublin)

I was going to talk about a different pipe but I want to take some pictures of it disassembled first, and it's too dark outside now to take any photos. So I'll do this one.

This is one of a pair of Kaywoodies that were the first pipes of that maker that I ever purchased. They were both estate pipes via eBay. It is a slightly bent Dublin, which Kaywoodie called a "yacht" or sometimes "yachtsman." It is also an "export" pipe because it has a traditional push-stem instead of the trademark screw-in stem of most Kaywoodies. They were made this way for sale in Europe--for some reason someone at Kaywoodie decided that these would sell better than the screw-stem--so stems made for export were just regular push-stems.

I dropped this pipe once and the impact broke the tenon. The tenon is that narrower part of the stem that fits into the shank (actually it fits into a countersunk part of the shank called the mortise). A real pipe repairman can fix this easily, since the tenon is not integral to the stem. Just take out the broken one and stick in a new one, then fit it to the mortise. Or maybe they fit it first, I don't know. Unfortunately, sometime in the process the person who replaced this tenon managed to knock out the cloverleaf, which is why there's a cloverleaf-shaped hole in the stem but no cloverleaf. I guess he felt bad about it, because I not only received the repaired stem sans cloverleaf, but I also got a brand new "generic" stem. I'm still trying to figure out if there's any way to replace, or least "fake" replace, the cloverleaf.

I don't smoke this much because it doesn't have a lot of bowl volume. But it is my only Kaywoodie export pipe, so it's a part of my collection.

Kaywoodie #67 Prime Grain Long Shank straight billiard

Several years ago I got lucky and scored a lot of five 1960s-era Kaywoodies that were all in excellent condition, except for one that had a huge fill on the shank. If I had acquired the same lot now, I would have put them all on the rack and not considered reselling. But back then I was more interested in getting funds into my Paypal account (if I recall correctly, I was saving up to buy some Makarov accessories from makarov.com). I sold the other four, but this one looked so nice I couldn't bring myself to auction it right away. Finally I put it up with a starting bid of $20. No one took it. A few months later I tried again with a start of $15. Still, nobody wanted it. Your loss, folks, because it won't be offered again.

This one is most likely from the late 1960s, and it looks like it was never smoked at all. I still haven't smoked it because it looks so pristine, and who am I to soil a 40-year-old pipe? Just kidding. I'll smoke it eventually, but I'm in no hurry. I'll be taking extra care of this one because it just looks so good. By the way, I uploaded a picture that's a little higher-res than usual, so click to enlarge and glory in all that slick briar.

With a shank longer than the usual, but not long enough to fall into the Canadian family, Kaywoodie understandably called this one the Long Shank. The shape number 62 designates it as a small billiard. The bowl still cants well right of center, so it likely has not been used at all. The Prime Grain is toward the upper end of the Kaywoodie system, although not as high as the Flame Grain, so a better-than-the-average-quality burl went into the making of this pipe. This pipe certainly merits a place in the permanent collection. Maybe someday I'll smoke it, or maybe I'll just save it for the next generation--or both.

Kaywoodie #H7 Hi-Bowl

Produced during the 1960s, this is the Kaywoodie Hi-Bowl designated #H7. There were six different shapes in the Hi-Bowl line. I have not been able to find pictures of any of them. No vintage ads, no descriptions, nothing. This is the only one I have ever seen.

This is one of the few pipes that I bought via eBay as a single. Most of what I get are in lots of several; I may keep one or two that appeal to me and resell the rest. But I thought this pipe looked so ungainly, so awkward, that I bought it for the same reason Charlie Brown bought that little Christmas tree. That was back before I considered myself a collector, and I wasn't looking for Kaywoodies intentionally.

This pipe required extensive work before it was presentable, much less smokeable. The briar is in fine shape, however, the stem has one hole in the bit from bite-through. It's a small hole on the underside and is invisible in this photo, and as far as I can tell it doesn't affect the smokeability.

I don't smoke this pipe often. The combination of that tall bowl and a long, straight stem makes it very fore-heavy and I prefer bent pipes with a lower center of gravity. But since I do like to collect Kaywoodies, this one definitely gets a place in my permanent collection.

Kaywoodie #42 Super Grain straight apple

As I was going through my "work-on" box I rediscovered this old Kaywoodie and knew I had to clean it up.

Exact dating of Kaywoodies can be a problem, but based on the logo and the stinger configuration this one runs somewhere in the 1940s to 1960s range, and is in pretty good shape for a fifty-year-old pipe. The bowl cants very slightly left of center, so it has some some wear but is not out of balance by any means. Although I am most fond of bent pipes, this simple straight apple is a classic design. The rim has some minor charring, but that is about to be expected for a well-used pipe of this age. The shape number 42 means that this one is a medium apple.

This one smokes quite well and the apple shape is very comfortable in the hand. I might have to forsake my usual bents for this one to get re-seasoned with something I like.

The Super Grain grade is midway in the order of Kaywoodie pipes, and this one will have a place in my permanent collection.